Kindle Touch 3G can’t touch most of Internet without WiFi

Amazon has confirmed that the upcoming Kindle Touch 3G won't be able to do …

Amazon has clarified that the next generation of its 3G Kindle, the Kindle Touch 3G, will not be able to browse the Internet without a WiFi connection. Users will still be able to use 3G to sync book and document purchases, but anything beyond Wikipedia will be off-limits.

Browsing was (and still is) an experimental feature on the last iteration of the Kindle, now known as the Kindle Keyboard 3G. The experiment appears to have failed as far as Amazon is concerned, as it will restrict the 3G access of the Kindle Touch 3G to browsing Wikipedia and downloading books and periodicals. The Kindle Touch 3G’s webpage does not directly note this restriction, stating only that it has "free 3G wireless" that "works globally," but a post in the official Amazon forums states that "experimental web browsing (outside of Wikipedia) on Kindle Touch 3G is only available over WiFi."

Since Amazon subsidizes all Kindle owners’ 3G use, the company may have determined the model isn’t cost-effective enough to support the use of the entire Internet. The 3G version of the Kindle Touch with special offers costs $149, 50 percent more than the $99 WiFi version, so this restriction may make the jump from WiFi to 3G much harder for customers to justify when both models become available November 21.

The announcement doesn’t affect the new Kindle Fire announced last week and due for launch November 15, since it is WiFi-only. The Kindle Keyboard 3G, while it is still available, will continue to have unfettered Internet access through the experimental browser.

We asked Amazon for confirmation of this policy, but have not received a response as of yet.

I'm surprised it wasn't like that in the first place, 3G only for book sync etc. I expect people would find a way to exploit it soon enough, especially since data caps are being introduced to regular data tariffs. 'Oh I'll just download that 1GB file on my kindle since it's free...'

I think this is the press making a mountain out of a moll hill. the browser was always an experimental feature, and was a pain to use. I don't think this is a bait and switch as people would imply. The average customer would see experimental by browser and expect, limited and inconsistent functionality.

I use my 3G Keyboard as an emergency (and I mean emergency) modem using some <ahem> third party modifications. Web browsing on its built-in browser is painful, if Amazon provides a better interface for just Wikipedia I'd still consider it a win for the latest generation.

The web browser is a pointless addition on the older Kindles. On the Kindle Touch, it might be more usable, since you don't have to maneuver the pointer around with the keypad (arghhh!). I suspect that's *exactly* why they have removed the functionality, because people might finally use it - and consume data.

I guess they worried that with a touch screen, people might start using it for routine browsing, and drive up Amazon's 3G connection costs. Better to limit it now at the outset than risk having to withdraw it later after selling a bunch of them. Users are far more willing to accept never having a feature at all than first having it, and then having it taken away. I hate to see it go, but quite frankly, I've used the web browser on my Kindle a total of once. On the other hand, Wikipedia is more an integral part of the Kindle reading experience, because you can look up words from the text. My iPhone is a lot more convenient for web browsing. And those who really want the feature can still buy the original model.

Well, most don't realize this, but the reason this is a big deal, and a deal-breaker for me, is that the 3G is free *globally*. That meant that when I was in Europe, for example, I could do emergency browsing without having to pay an arm and leg to AT&T. So for those who travel and know the ridiculous roaming costs on your smartphone, this is very sad and painful news. That said, I'm hoping for a quick exploit...

If the 3G cellular is included in the cost of the device and not billable monthly, I would imagine they are worried about people either hacking in audio streaming or something else data intensive like installing a network bridge and using it as a cheap portable hotspot.

$50 for limited 3G? Thanks, but I'll get the wi-fi model only. I think most people don't really need the 3G, anyway (I've a wifi K3, BTW).

Eh, my wife has had her 3G model for about 3 months, and has already declared the extra money she spent to have been paid back in convenience. She's probably purchased half her books over 3G, and it's helped make a bunch of impulse buys, which I'm sure is exactly what Amazon is hoping for. She was very impressed that she was able to make purchases on the beach in Mexico without any issues or additional charges.

She also took one look at the browser and decided that it wasn't worth bothering with.

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Anyone want to take bets on how long before someone hacks the functionality back in? hehe

Anyone want to take bets on how long it takes Amazon to suspend the accounts of people who do that? I'm sure they'd know exactly when someone does that, and can cut them off pretty quickly.

I got my first smartphone (Epic 4G Touch), noticed it had eBook software, and went looking for some Roger Zelazny books to buy. Not *one* was available. So it's not connectivity that'd prevent me from buying some other reader, it's content...

The web browser is a pointless addition on the older Kindles. On the Kindle Touch, it might be more usable, since you don't have to maneuver the pointer around with the keypad (arghhh!). I suspect that's *exactly* why they have removed the functionality, because people might finally use it - and consume data.

My thoughts exactly. I think they removed specifically because it won't be as much of a pain to use. The fact that they left in open web browsing via WiFi should tell you they consider the feature worthwhile to support.

I'm surprised it took them this long to restrict the 3G, honestly. The 3G bandwidth was always subsidized by book purchases, and they only had the web browser in because, hey, why not. I'm sure they were losing money like crazy on it.

I got my first smartphone (Epic 4G Touch), noticed it had eBook software, and went looking for some Roger Zelazny books to buy. Not *one* was available. So it's not connectivity that'd prevent me from buying some other reader, it's content...

It's not Zelazny, but ... you can get many ebooks from Baen completely free as in beer and they have a nice subscription service to deliver early prepress copies of books if you're interested in that.

They are available in formats that pretty much any reader can open, like HTML, rich text or what have you.If you can't open them in your reader, the library management software calibre (also free, as in beer and speech) will help you convert them to pretty much whatever format you could ever want.

The thing I love about my Keyboard Kindle is that it excels at being an e-reader. It doesn't really try to be anything else. I don't need every device to be everything at all times. I bought the Wi-Fi version because I didn't want to pay extra for capability that I would use rarely. If I am away from a wi-fi signal and desperately need to buy a book, I just tether it to my rooted smartphone and I'm good to go. The limitation of 3G use is a non-issue for me and I suspect for me of Amazon's target Kindle market.

If they could at least add in an email client and let that work over 3g, then I'd be tempted. Heck, they can even make it restrictive so that it cannot send or receive attachments. What are they facing then? A few hundred KB a day max in data for text emails?

That to me would be a huge, huge, HUGE win is email anywhere you have a cellular connection basically (internationally especially) without having to fork for a GSM device and massive roaming costs.

It'd still let me connect to wispernet over 3g anywhere (very limited value for me) which I know is what Amazon wants and it avoids the costs of Amazon of real web browsing over 3g.

The previous generation browser is pretty hard to use, and I wouldn't choose it over any recent smartphone, assuming you already have connectivity -- but if you're traveling internationally, smartphone data is really expensive (roaming on your home-country plan is priced unfairly, pay-as-you-go is priced unfairly, and fair-priced data plans are often not available to foreigners especially on short term basis).

I've found the previous-generation Kindle 3G actually really valuable when traveling, for this reason, if I need to look something up in a pinch -- the original browser (in Kindle 1 and Kindle 2) couldn't render most sites (and all Kindle 1s and many Kindle 2s were US-only 3G ANYWAY), but the Webkit browser (in Kindle 3) can actually render most sites, and combined with the ability to use it internationally, I actually have found myself suffering through the horrible input limitations.

OF COURSE they don't allow general internet access over 3G. Amazon would have to pay the phone companies, and who would pay Amazon? I have a WiFi kindle, and I understand the value of 3G as Amazon provides it:

(1) It allows me to sync anywhere anytime (I read books on devices other than the Kindle on occasion) so that my current page is always current.

(2) Download books from my archive anywhere anytime.

(3) Buy new books anywhere anytime.

(4) Look up things on Wikipedia anywhere anytime.

Overall, it is a useful package and pretty reasonably priced at the cost premium of the hardware. I've pre-ordered a 3G kindle touch on that basis. (The big draw for me is the touch interface. I tried book shopping with the browser once with the keyboard kindle. Yuck. Never again. Also, operations like peeking at footnotes, which is a huge pain the keyboard kindle, looks like it should actually be practical on the touch kindle.)

If they could at least add in an email client and let that work over 3g, then I'd be tempted. Heck, they can even make it restrictive so that it cannot send or receive attachments. What are they facing then? A few hundred KB a day max in data for text emails?

That to me would be a huge, huge, HUGE win is email anywhere you have a cellular connection basically (internationally especially) without having to fork for a GSM device and massive roaming costs.

It'd still let me connect to wispernet over 3g anywhere (very limited value for me) which I know is what Amazon wants and it avoids the costs of Amazon of real web browsing over 3g.

My Kindle books are on the order of 1MB each. WhisperSync, over the life of a reading, might be in the low hundreds of bytes, maybe a couple of KB. So when you buy a $9.95 book with 30% margin, Amazon gets $3.00 gross profit against which they have to buy about 1 MB of data from some provider… T-Mo?.

Your $0.00/month (presumably free) email access plus maybe a few pennies' worth of ads would generate maybe 10MB/month or more that Amazon would buy from their global 3G providers.

If YOU think you could make money on that type of plan, YOU should go compete with Amazon. Free 3G email ought to get you a fair number of users, it's just the income side I can't see. But don't let that stop you from offering it to me!